spacetoday.net: NASA approves Europa mission for next phase of development

Posted: Sat, Jun 20, 2015, 11:24 AM ET (1524 GMT)
Europa Clipper spacecraft concept (NASA/JPL-Caltech)

NASA announced this week that a proposed mission to Jupiter's moon Europa has been approved to formally enter its next stage of development. The agency said the mission passed a review and entered the "formulation" phase. The mission is based on a concept known as Europa Clipper, where the spacecraft will enter orbit around Jupiter and make dozens of close flybys of the moon. NASA announced in May the selection of a suite of instruments the spacecraft would carry to probe the subsurface ocean of liquid water believed the exist below its icy surface. NASA said the mission would launch some time in the 2020s, although some in Congress are seeking to launch the probe no later than 2022.